2006Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the organisation has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.http://alhaq.org
Sat, 25 May 2019 13:41:53 +0000Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Managementen-gbAffidavit No. 3082/2006http://alhaq.org/documentation/fieldworkers-affidavits/item/239-affidavit-no-3082/2006
http://alhaq.org/documentation/fieldworkers-affidavits/item/239-affidavit-no-3082/2006

I live with my family in Sourif. My family consists of nine people. I am a student and next year I’ll be in the final year of school.

On 20 June 2006, at around 6:00 pm, I went to the field owned by my family in the Wadi Sour area, which is adjacent to the Separation Wall constructed west of Sourif. The area of this field is approximately one dunum and it is planted with vegetables like okra and Egyptian cucumber. When I reached our land, I started to pick the vegetable crops. Beside our land, there were a number of Palestinian citizens picking crops from their fields, including some of my relatives who I had gone to the field with. This field is approximately five kilometres away from my home. My relatives who went with me include Baha' Mousa 'Isa Ghneimat (14 years old), Tha'er Khaled Ghneimat (17 years old) and Ra'fat Majd Ghneimat (15 years old). We were in the field together.

After around half an hour, I saw a number of workers heading toward us in the direction of the Wall. I believe it was eight or nine people, and I noticed that they were trying to cross west of the Wall and then they ran rapidly away in the fields. Immediately, I saw an Israeli military vehicle approaching. The Wall is around 200 metres from my land, to the west. In the part near our land, the Wall is made of mesh, not cement, and there is a gate in it. The gate was controlled by the Israeli soldiers. I saw the military vehicle approaching; the gate opened for it and it continued toward us. I also saw the same workers running in the fields away from the soldiers. I also saw them throw away the bags that they were carrying.

I thought that no harm would be inflicted on me because I just remained in my field and did not run away. I was picking the crops when the military vehicle known as a Hummer approached me. A number of soldiers got out of the vehicle and started to call me and my other relatives who were with me in the field. I went closer to the soldiers and one of them started to talk to me in Hebrew, which I do not understand. Then the soldier grabbed me and threw me down on the ground. I felt pain in my leg. As I tried to get up, the same soldier pushed me and my head hit the ground. Then the soldiers gathered my other relatives (Baha', Tha'er and Ra'fat), in addition to another person (Muhammad 'Umar Ghneimat, 17 years old) who was present in his field nearby. They ordered us to sit on the ground and they kicked us from time to time. This continued for approximately half an hour.

Meanwhile, the number of Israeli soldiers increased, as many military and non-military vehicles arrived at the place. The soldiers took us to the gate, where a person dressed in civilian clothes came. The person was armed and was carrying a pair of wire cutters. The person accused me of trying to cross the mesh, but that was not correct and I denied the accusation. The soldier took me behind the military vehicle and kicked me in more than one place, especially on my head. I felt pain and dizziness and started to shout out loud. The soldier continued to beat me for five minutes. The armed civilian was speaking Arabic and he told me that he was a watchman and an Arab and he asked me to confess which person had been carrying the wire cutters. I told him that we were picking the crops and we are all students and do not work in Israel. I heard him addressing my relatives and accusing them of carrying the wire cutters. When they denied the accusation, the soldiers took them behind the vehicle one by one and beat them. I heard their shouts while they were being beaten.

After that, the soldiers ordered us to get into a car (a Toyota) that was parked near the gate and that I knew belonged to the watchman, who drove it while Muhammad 'Umar, Ra'fat and I sat in the back seat and another two sat in the front seat. We were taken to a well known military checkpoint. The checkpoint is between the villages of Sourif and al-Jaba’a. We got out of the car and the car left. The soldiers took us five young men to the military base. They did not blindfold us or handcuff us. They put us together in a room, and ordered us to put our heads on the ground while we were kneeling. They gave us these orders in Hebrew, which we do not understand, and then in weak Arabic. We remained there until 2:00 am the next day, in this position. During that period, we were continuously beaten. As a result of the beating, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up I heard the screaming of the others. I received another blow that caused me to lose consciousness again. I woke up when the beating had stopped. I thought I was going to die. I was in so much pain and so exhausted that I could not even shout.

The soldiers ordered us to stand, but I could not. One of the soldiers lifted me by force onto my feet. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was 2:00 am. I felt dizzy and looked at my relatives, who were in a condition similar to mine. One of the soldiers blindfolded me with a piece of cloth and handcuffed my hands behind me with plastic cuffs. They kept us standing for a time while we were very tired and exhausted. Then we heard a car coming. A soldier pulled me and ordered me to lift my leg, and I tried but could not because I was very tired and in severe pain. As I tried to lift my leg, I almost fell down but a soldier grabbed me, carried me and threw me on the floor of the car, on a metallic surface. I felt dizzier but I did not lose consciousness. Another soldier came and sat me in the back seat of the car. I felt that someone was sitting beside me. I could not recognize him but I thought that he was one of my relatives and I did not even have the strength to talk to him. I was so weak and unable to utter one word.

The car moved. I did not know what direction it moved in. I estimate the distance to be between three and five kilometres. It stopped and I was let out of it. I walked beside somebody who held my hand but I did not know where we were heading. I entered a room, and there my eyes were uncovered and my hands were uncuffed. I felt severe pain in my hands as a result of lack of blood flow.

The soldiers took us one by one; I did not know where to. When my turn came, I was taken to a room where an unarmed civilian was sitting. He gave me a form in Hebrew and Arabic and asked me to sign it. The form included questions about my health condition. I signed it and returned to the previous room.After we had all signed the form, at approximately 4:15 am, the soldiers ordered us to get into a car. We were again blindfolded. The car moved and we were taken to the military checkpoint between Sourif and al-Jaba'a, where we had been beaten by the Israeli soldiers. (I realized this when the soldier uncovered my eyes, and then covered them again.) I was beaten again, as before. I believe that I received hundreds of blows from the soldiers on that bad night. Then the soldiers ordered us to stand, uncovered my eyes and my relatives’ eyes, and ordered us to leave.

I looked at my watch; it was around 6:00 am. I walked away from the soldiers. I was frightened and did not look behind me, but I was very slow. I was very tired and had pains in all parts of my body and specifically in my legs. The distance between the checkpoint and Sourif, my village, is around 3 kilometres. It took us three hours to reach our village, although it normally takes me much less time to walk the distance.

On the same day, I went to Hebron Governmental Hospital. After examining me, the doctors said that I had bruises all over my body. I submitted a complaint to the Palestinian police and returned home.

I am still suffering from pain in my back, leg, head and neck. I found out afterwards that we had been in 'Atsion Centre, which is a centre for the Israeli civil administration. I discovered this through a letter I received informing me that I had to meet with the 'Atsion police on 21 June 2006. I did not go because of my health situation.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 3 July 2006Signature: Tareq BadawiName not withheldField researcher: Zahi Jaradat

On 27 May 2006 at approximately 5:00 pm I was returning home with my wife, daughter and friend’s wife. As I arrived at the village gate where a number of soldiers were positioned, I asked the soldiers to let me through the gate. The soldiers agreed to let me pass through the gate with all the persons in my car as long as the address on my ID was al-Nu'man village. There were cement blocks at the gate and the soldiers told us to remove them if we wanted to pass, adding that they were not going to move the cement blocks. I moved these blocks with the help of the women who were with me in the car and we passed through the gate. On that day we arrived at home at around 7:00 pm.

On Friday 2 June 2006, I was returning from Bethlehem in my own car in which I was carrying vegetables, fruit and a 60 kilogram sack of flour. As I arrived at the village gate, the soldiers who were positioned at the gate asked me to open the car boot. I did. The soldiers took all the vegetables and fruit and put them down on the ground and when I protested about what they were doing, they said they were doing it for security reasons. Then one of the soldiers poked his gun barrel in the flour sack in many places which resulted in the flour being scattered. This act aggravated me because I felt it was unnecessary for security as I was merely moving from one West Bank village to another. Moreover, entering al-Nu'man village did not mean in any way that I could reach Israel.

On 9 June 2006 at around 11:00 am, I left my village and headed to Beit Sahour and Bethlehem to perform my Friday prayer. Before I went, my family told me that our gas canister was empty; so I put it in my car and left home. As I reached the gate, I found a number of the border guard soldiers who inspected my car. They saw the gas canister and told me that it was against the law and that they would not let me return with the canister. When I asked why, one of the soldiers said that he could not be sure that I filled the canister with gas and not with anything else. When I told him that I did not have another gas canister in my home, he answered that it was not his problem and that he was carrying out his orders and would not let me pass through the gate.

Moreover, children and students in particular have been harassed and disrupted since the construction of the gate. Three weeks ago, on 28 May 2006, while my son Anas (who is 14 years old) was going to school, the soldiers asked for his identity card. When he told them that he was under age, they told him to go home and bring his birth certificate with him, and they did not let him pass until he had done so. On that day, he reached school an hour and a half late. Al-Nu'man village does not have any schools and depends on using the schools in al-Khas for the education of its children.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 15 June 2006Signature: Ibrahim Dir'awi

We have been building a house for approximately ten years in our village, Tora al-Gharbiyya, in Jenin Governorate. Although we live in Jenin city, we originally come from Tora al-Gharbiyya village, where my husband Naji Taher Kifaya owns a piece of land.

My husband works as a dress maker in Jenin. We saved some money from his work to build a house for the family in our village. As I mentioned in the beginning, we started building our house ten years ago. The area of the house is 180 square metres. As we reached the final stages of construction, at the end of 2004, the Israeli army handed us a notice that included an order for demolishing the house on the pretext of not having a license. We appealed to several lawyers who were able to postpone the demolition, which took place later, at 5:30 am on 12 June 2006.

I wonder why the Israeli occupying forces demolished my home even though all Tora houses are built without licenses. Why has only my and my children’s house been demolished? The fact is that our house was built 200 metres east of the Separation Wall, which the Israeli occupying forces have built to separate the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 from those occupied in 1967. What bothers me is that there are other houses in Tora located closer to the Separation Wall than my house, and they were not demolished. We have lost what we saved for over ten years. I used to deprive my children and myself of basic needs in order to save money and build that house. With the demolition of the house, the Israeli army destroyed all our dreams of living in our own house. The Israeli bulldozers killed all the sacrifices and hopes in less than half an hour as they levelled the house.

I would also like to point out that I am the mother of the prisoner Ahmad Naji Kifaya, 27 years old, who was arrested in Jenin on 15 August 2003, tried at the end of 2004 and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on the charge of being an activist with Hamas.

My son is imprisoned in Jalbou’ prison and I am prevented from visiting him for security reasons. My husband, Naji Kifaya, died a year ago after suffering from several diseases as a result of the imprisonment of his son and after we received the order to demolish our house.

This occupation is oppressive and malignant. It deprived me of my son and of seeing him and visiting him in the Israeli prisons. Then it demolished the house that was going to shelter my family. The Israeli occupation has left me nothing except misery.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 14 June 2006Signature: Radiyya 'Abdallah

I am a citizen of al-Tayba town, 17 kilometres west of Jenin. Al-Tayba is directly adjacent to what is called the Green Line, which is the separation line between Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 and those occupied in 1967. The nearest town to al-Tayba inside the Green Line is Um al-Fahem city, to which we, the residents of al-Tayba, numbering 2,500 persons, used to belong.

By the end of 2002, the Israeli army had embarked on the construction of the Separation Wall. My home and my mother-in-law’s home are located right near the Green Line; only a few metres separate us from that elusive line. During the construction of the Wall, the Israeli soldiers started to bother us by coming to our house and searching it and other things like that. Our life started, day and night, to turn gradually into hell.

To the west of my home are the graves of my father-in-law, Ahmad Sadeq Ighbariyya, my husband, Muhammad Taysir Ahmad Sadeq Ighbariyya, and his brother, Mahmoud Sadeq Ighbariyya. One day, the Israeli soldiers came to my home and asked me to take them to the above-mentioned graves, which I did. To my surprise, the soldiers told me that we would have to dig up the graves and take the corpses to another place because the Israeli army was planning to blow up a mountain less than 200 metres to the west, opposite my house, and at the same distance from the graves. The reason for this was that the Israeli authorities wanted to create a security road in order to provide protection for the Separation Wall. The road would pass over the graves. Hearing this, I was shocked. How can we excavate the graves after almost 17 years?

The Israeli army gave me two months to do this; otherwise they would destroy the graves. During these two months, the harassment and troubles from the Israeli soldiers continued and they started blowing up the mountain. The explosions were intense and strong and rocks began to fall on our houses and on the graves. My home gradually started to crack; the cracks appeared on the wall and the ceiling. Then the stairway collapsed.

I felt that I had no choice but to excavate the graves. I brought two men from al-Sila al-Harithyya village in Jenin Governorate. These two people were specialists in disentombing. They started their work. It very painful to see my husband after 17 years. His features were still clear. My husband was killed in family fights without committing any crime. We carried the three corpses to al-Tayba cemetery.

The explosion of the mountain continued and it caused the collapse of the ceiling of our house. Thank God my children and I were sleeping in the kitchen because we were expecting that to happen, otherwise we would all have died under the rubble.

With the help of the village residents, my children and I moved to a room in al-Tayba Elementary School for Boys. That happened in February 2003. To my surprise, after the explosion of the mountain and the construction of the security road, we discovered that the road, which was around 300 metres west of my home, had not passed over the area that the graves were in, on the grounds that the old plans had been changed. This means that the aim of the disentombing and the threats to excavate the bodies was only to distance us from the road, not to build the road over them.

We stayed in the school room for a full year, during which my children and I suffered and were living in very difficult conditions among the school students and teachers, without a kitchen or other facilities. It was a very critical period for us all caused by the Israeli occupation.

I owned a small amount of land in al-Tayba and one of the philanthropists there donated a sum of money to build a room and a kitchen to shelter my children where, as you see, we are living now. Currently, we are in a better situation than when living in the school. As for my mother-in-law and her granddaughter Fida' Mahmoud Ighbariyya (14 years old), they are now living in a room and a kitchen that were also donated by one of the al-Tayba philanthropists.

As a result of the Israeli occupation, we were evacuated from our homes, had to excavate our family graves and lived in school rooms. I was and still am in a very bad psychological state that has led to many diseases, in particular diabetes.

The Israeli occupation not only led to our evacuation and the excavation of my husband, his father and his brother’s graves, but it confiscated 30 dunums of agricultural land planted with olive trees. This land is west of the Separation Wall. Nothing is left for me. The occupation does not have mercy. It excavated the graves – even the dead have not escaped the evil acts of the Israeli occupation.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 10 June 2006Signature: Ribhiyya As'ad

Since 1 January 1999, I have been working in the Ministry of Health – Salfit Directorate as a driver for the Ministry. My job is to drive the administrative employees from the governorate to the directorate. My monthly salary is 1,850 shekels. Although my salary is low and I cannot provide my family – which consists of 9 members: my wife Zohore (a housewife, 37 years old), Maysa’ (a Tawjihi student, 18 years), Rashed (a student, 16 years), Bisan (a student, 10 years), Hassan (a student, 8 years), and Sultan (5 years) – with basic necessities, we try to cope with this salary. I have suffered when I have not been able to even fulfil the basic needs of my children. I looked for another job to increase our income but my searches were useless because of the poor economy and lack of jobs. Many times, I have gone to borrow money from a friend to purchase basic necessities for my family. That was the case when I was receiving a salary.

But now, I have not received a salary for three months and I do not have an alternative or any other means of living. Since I stopped receiving my salary, we have been living on bread and oil. Fruit and meat are not to be found in our home. I begin to cry when one of my children asks me for a shekel to buy something and I cannot even afford that shekel. The little children start to shout and I do not blame them because they do not know that I do not have that shekel.

My little children do not know that the Palestinian people are punished collectively for their choice in a democracy that the international community itself called for. Unfortunately, our democracy was not tailored according to the specifications of the decision makers of the world. My eldest daughter Maysa’ was dreaming of studying medicine or politics in Europe or the United States after she graduates from school. But after she realized what is happening and how the international community cut off the assistance to the Palestinian people, she told me, “Father, I have often heard about Europe and America as oases for freedom, democracy and human values. Had this been accurate, this world would not have contributed to our starvation, deprivation and making our lives impossible.” I answered by agreeing with what she said. She continued, saying, “Last year, I read about the United Nations and realized that it upholds values and noble principles for all humanity. I felt with hope that some day our darkness would vanish and we would see light, based on what I read of its assistance to the Palestinian people and to humanity in general.” She added, “I started to watch the news on radio and television but I was shocked when I realized that the UN is participating in our oppression. These values and principles are not for the Palestinians, they are for the welfare of European and American peoples. It is just words.”

Imagine: this is my daughter’s perception, although she is just 18 years old and still in the period of mental development. I believe that her words were the closest description of what the Palestinian people are suffering simply because they chose a democracy which the world did not like.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 10 June 2006Signature: Zuhdi RashedName not withheldField researcher: Yousef Qawariq

Since 2000, I have been married to a woman called Nariman 'Umar 'Leiyyan Rigitis, who has Spanish nationality. I submitted a family reunion application for her on 1 April 2000 but I have not received any response. I submitted the application to the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs in Ramallah.

From the time we married until 7 May 2006, my wife obtained entry visas for three months at a time. When the visa expired, she used to leave for Jordan or any place outside Palestine and then return after a few days with a new visa. She has never violated the regulations or stayed beyond the duration of the visa. From 2000 until 7 May 2006, she did not face any difficulties, either in Jordan or on the Allenby Bridge through which she used to leave the Palestinian territories.

On 7 May 2006, while she was returning from Jordan with our daughter Salma (2 1/2 years old), as she reached the Allenby Bridge, she called me, telling me that the Israeli authorities had denied her entry and that she had to return to Jordan. I advised her to try to explain to the Israeli soldiers that she is married to a Palestinian and her family is based in Ramallah, but they did not listen to her and ordered her to return to Jordan.

She told me when I called her in Jordan later that the Israeli authorities told her, “Because you are married to a Palestinian, he has to submit a permanent residency application for you,” without clarifying for her the nature of these documents.

Since 7 May 2006, my wife has been in Jordan waiting for the Israeli authorities to give her an entry visa to come back to Palestine. Currently, she is living in Jordan with her family. Our child Salma used to go to a nursery in Ramallah.

On 10 May 2006, I went to Beit El to apply for a permit for my wife and daughter. The soldiers at the entrance told me that they do not receive or handle visit permits. I went several times to Beit El; the last time was on 17 May 2006. There, I met with a person wearing the Israeli police uniform. I talked with him in English, which I speak very well. I explained to him that I wanted to submit a visit permit application for my wife. He answered by saying that they do not receive any such applications in Beit El.

Last week I went to Amman to see my wife and daughter. I stayed there for three days. On my return, at Allenby Bridge, I asked an Israeli policeman how I could bring my wife from Jordan. He transferred me to the Liaison Office at the Bridge. I went to the Liaison Office and explained the issue to them. They told me that I should go to the Liaison Office in Ramallah, but so far I have not gone there.

I feel that if the Israeli authorities continue their position, denying an entry visa for my wife, they will destroy a home and a family, because I cannot have Jordan as aresidence and I also cannot live in Spain. My life is here; my job and my extended family are all here.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 5 June 2006Signature: Rami Yazbek

I am the brother of Tareq Ahmad al-Shami, 22 years old when he was assassinated by the Israeli special squad in an area called al-Zakarna Mountain, near al-Zakarna quarter in Qabatiya town south of Jenin, where my family also lives.

The incident took place on Tuesday, 30 May 2006 at around 3:20 am. At that time, my brother Tareq al-Shami was in the company of 'Ala’ Abu-al-Rub, 20 years old, and Muhammad Abu-al-Rub, 22 years old. All three young men are activists in Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, and the three of them were wanted by the Israeli occupying forces. At that time, the three young men were on al-Zakarna Mountain when they heard a movement in their vicinity. They were suspicious of the movement and started moving from that area.

As the three young men were walking in a narrow alley among houses under construction, and as they left the alley, they were surprised by the presence of four people wearing civil uniforms and carrying weapons. The distance between the three young men and the other group was less than 30 metres. My brother Tareq shouted, “Who are you?” and fired one bullet toward them. The four people, who later on were revealed as belonging to an Israeli special forces squad, opened fire toward the three young Palestinian men. A bullet hit my brother Tareq in the right of his abdomen, 'Ala’ Abu-al-Rub was hit with bullets and shrapnel in the hands and face, while Muhammad Abu-al-Rub escaped.

Tareq and 'Ala’ fell on the ground, and three of the Israeli special squad men came closer to where Tareq and 'Ala’ were lying on the ground, while the fourth followed Muhammad Abu-al-Rub without managing to arrest him. The three Israelis kicked my brother Tareq on his stomach and he yelled out from pain. Then one of them shot a bullet at Tareq’s face from a distance of not more than one metre and Tareq immediately died. The Israeli special squad members did the same with the injured 'Ala’ Abu-al-Rub, who put his hands on his face, which was bleeding as a result of the first injury. They also kicked him in his abdomen and other parts of his body, but he did not shout and pretended that he was dead. Despite that, the squad men fired seven bullets at 'Ala’s right leg and then left the scene of the incident straightaway.

It seems that there were other activists deploying in the same area, who, directly after the Israeli army and the squad members left, arrived at the scene of the incident. Under extreme danger, the Palestinian men carried 'Ala’ Abu-al-Rub to Jenin Governmental Hospital. As for my brother Tareq, he was carried by an ambulance to the same hospital after approximately half an hour.

My family and I learned about the incident and my brothers, including me, hurried to the hospital. I saw my brother Tareq in the hospital’s morgue. I looked at him and saw that he had been hit by a bullet in the face, near his nose, and by another in his abdomen. It seems that the shrapnel had penetrated his chest and abdomen.As for 'Ala’ Abu-al-Rub, he received first aid treatment and left the hospital in the company of other activists from Saraya al-Quds, because they were afraid that the Israeli army might raid the hospital and arrest 'Ala’.

This is what took place at the scene of the incident. My brother Tareq al- Shami was highly wanted by the Israeli army because of being an activist in Saraya al-Quds. He had previously been arrested and had spent a year and a half in administrative detention from 15 October 2004 until 15 April 2006. As soon as he was released from detention, he became a fugitive chased by the Israeli army.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 5 June 2006Signature: Muhammad al-ShamiName not withheldField researcher: Tareq al-Haj Mahmoud

On Saturday 27 May 2006 at 10:00 am, I left Jenin city in my taxi (Volkswagen, Model 2000) with one passenger heading toward my village, 'Arraba. 'Arraba is located 14 kilometres south of Jenin. On my way, I arrived at an Israeli military barrier at the 'Arraba junction situated on the Jenin-Nablus road. I had passed through this barrier on my way from 'Arraba to Jenin where I had to wait for an hour and a half after a thorough search of the car and passengers, which had caused congestion at the barrier.

During my return and in order to avoid the long queue and long wait at the barrier, I decided to use a dirt road through the 'Arraba plains. I started driving through the plains, and when I reached almost half way I was surprised to see an Israeli military jeep speeding toward me from the south. One of the soldiers who was in the jeep, sitting beside the driver, signalled for me to stop. I stopped immediately and the jeep stopped to the south of my car. A soldier got down from the jeep and threw a stone at my car. The stone hit the body of my car. That soldier proceeded toward me followed by two other soldiers. The three of them were aiming their weapons at me.

One of the three soldiers asked me in Arabic, “Why are you driving your car in the plain?” I told him it was to avoid the traffic jam at the barrier and that I wanted to return to 'Arraba, and take passengers in my car back to Jenin. This same soldier asked me to leave my car and I complied.

As soon as I left my car, without saying anything, the soldier slapped my face. That soldier was in his twenties, of medium height, had tanned skin, wore a helmet, and spoke Arabic with difficulty. I did not say anything but all of a sudden another soldier hit me on my back with the butt of his gun. The blow was very strong, such that it made me fall to the ground shouting of severe pain. As I fell down on the ground, the soldiers started to beat me with their feet and the butts of their weapons all over my body. The soldiers continued to beat me and cursed me using bad words for several minutes. The young man who was in my car was not subjected to any acts like I was.

After that the soldiers told me to follow them toward the barrier positioned at the 'Arraba junction, which was approximately 700 metres to the southwest. I returned to my car and drove behind the jeep, which was a regular army jeep. We reached the barrier and the soldiers there took my ID card and told me to stay in the car and not to leave it. The soldiers who hit me handed my ID card to the soldiers at the barrier and went back to 'Arraba plain in search of another citizen and in order to assault him as brutally as they did me. I was detained in my car with the young man for two and a half hours at the barrier. After this time, the soldiers returned my ID card and asked me to go to 'Arraba.

I would also like to mention that when the Israeli jeep reached my car on the 'Arraba plain, it intentionally crashed into the left side of my car, inflicting enormous damage on its left side. This is what has happened to me. Finally, I would also like to point out that the Israeli occupation has been operating this barrier for over one month and on a daily basis at 'Arraba junction. It is worth mentioning that the junction links Jenin city with a number of southern villages such as 'Arraba, Ya'bad, 'Anza, 'Ajja, Jaba’ and Silat al-Thaher. Moreover, it also links the cities of Jenin, Toulkarem and Nablus. Any citizen who tries to avoid this barrier will be subjected to what I have been subjected to.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 3 June 2006Signature: Fadi Yihiya

On Wednesday 24 May 2006, at around 2:45 pm, I left Al-Haq’s premises in Ramallah, driving my car, a black 1992 Hyundai Civic. I was alone in the car. When I was approximately 80 metres from the Al-Haq premises, on the main street in Ramallah, and before I reached Clock Square (Duwar al-Sa’a), three Israeli military jeeps approached me from the opposite direction. The jeeps changed course, aiming to either halt or collide with my car. I drove away from them but a fourth Israeli car called a “Hummer” speeded toward my car and struck the left side. I got out of my car to check the damage and found that the glass was broken on the left side and the back door behind me was also damaged, and its glass broken.

When I stopped the car, I felt that I was in severe danger, especially because groups of young Palestinian men were throwing stones at the Israeli jeeps. With difficulty, I opened the damaged door and got out of the car and quickly entered a building to protect myself. I saw soldiers getting down from the military jeeps but I did not stop. I was not carrying anything except my cell phone. I thought that the soldiers were following me but they were not. Because shooting was taking place in the area, I sheltered myself for approximately an hour. There were many other youths who, like me, sheltered themselves in the building. None of these young men were carrying weapons. The name of the building was “al-Isra’ Building,” as I learned from the young me who were with me.

I remained on the third floor, watching what was happening outside. Confrontations were taking place between the Israeli army and the young Palestinian men in the adjacent street in the middle of Ramallah the entire time. I saw one of the wounded, who fell on the ground beside Clock Square. I believe his injury was to his leg. He was carried away by other young men. I saw second, third and fourth boys injured because of the Israeli shooting. These young men were in their twenties and they were among the men who were throwing stones. None of them were firing or carrying weapons.

After that, the soldiers withdrew and I got out of the building and went to my car. My car was moderately damaged, and I was suffering from some light bruises on my back and left hand as a result of the crash with the Israeli car. I took my car to the garage to repair it. The damage was estimated at around 2,500 shekels. This all happened to me without any reason and without any accusation. It is worth mentioning that I am not wanted by either side, Palestinian or Israeli.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 24 May 2006Signature: Mahmoud Ma’badName not withheldField researcher: Zahi Jaradat

I live with my family of 20 people in an area called Sour Mou’in in Bani N'eim. I am not married. On 23 March 2006, I was released from Israeli detention after 15 months.On 1 May 2006 at around 6:00 am, while I was at home, I heard through a megaphone a voice saying, “Get out of your house.” The voice was very close and so I realized that we were supposed to get out of our house. I looked through the window and saw the Israeli soldiers surrounding our home and aiming their weapons at us. All my family members started to go out while the soldiers were saying, “hurry up.” In ten minutes, we were all out.

When I reached the military car, one of the soldiers ordered me in Arabic to stop. I stopped and the soldier handcuffed me, ordered me to stay in place, and set soldiers to guard me. When we were all out, the same soldier said that everybody had to leave the house. I told him that there was nobody inside. He said that somebody wanted was there and when I insisted that nobody remained he accused me of lying. He then called on the megaphone, saying, “'Abd-al-Naser Zeidat, get out of the house. The house is besieged.” He repeated that call several times and continued for approximately an hour, once every five minutes.

At the same time, another Israeli soldier was questioning me and insisting that 'Abd-al-Naser was inside our house and that he must get out, while I was saying that there was nobody inside our home. I was sitting on the ground and after an hour the soldiers started firing at our home in unison and repeatedly. Firing continued intermittently for around 15 minutes. Then the soldiers raided our house. They spent around 15 minutes searching the rooms on the ground and upper floors. Then they exited and while they were leaving, they threw gas bombs on the ground floor. Then the intelligence officer untied my hands and the Israeli soldiers withdrew from the area.

For more than two hours, we could not enter our house because of the gas smell that filled it. We entered our home and started to clean it but the smell was very strong. We cleaned several times but the smell remained. We were not able to sleep inside our home for three days even though 11 people used to sleep there.

In addition to the gas smell, the bullets destroyed all the window glass, balcony glass and most of the furniture and walls. They did all of this even though there was no wanted person inside our house. The losses (glass, furniture and walls, doors) are estimated at 5,000 Jordanian Dinars. Moreover, while we were fixing and moving the furniture, we discovered that the soldiers took 4,000 shekels that were in the bedroom cupboard. We have not found the money even though we searched everywhere. The money was taken by the Israeli soldiers; no one else could have done it because they were the only ones who entered the house and searched it.

This is my declaration and hereby I sign, 20 May 2006Signature: Isma'il YousefName not withheldField researcher: Zahi Jaradat